


Proud

by AdaMarina



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: A bit of favouritism, Also Gladstone isn't a completely bad person okay, Depressed Donald, Grateful and hardworking nephew Donald, More like Scrooge's thoughts, Not much story, Pre HD & L, Speech impediment, Supportive Uncle Scrooge, mentions ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 08:57:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12384972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdaMarina/pseuds/AdaMarina
Summary: Scrooge was very proud of his family. Especially his niece and nephews. Donald, however, had always had a special place in Scrooge’s heart.ORScrooge is a proud person. He has his own pride, and he's very proud of his family... but he does have one regret regarding his nephew.





	Proud

**Author's Note:**

> Because I’m extra and I can’t keep my nose out of other fandoms...
> 
> For those of you reading Bunny Tech who might be peeking in here to see what's up, I promise it will get updated soon, Mazey and I just haven’t had time to sit down together recently! But right now it’s raining and I’m stuck inside with nothing better to do, and I am in love with DuckTales right now (the reboot is very good for a reboot and I am so happy my bab Donald is with the crew this time but I want to see more badass adventurer-turned-daduncle-Donald, come on, he was an adventurer AND in the navy, so!) and I have already exhausted all of the fanfiction that caught my fancy.
> 
> Just something I wanted to write. 
> 
> This was supposed to be a drabble but turned into a bit of a oneshot instead....
> 
> Note: This is pre-Spear of Selene, so Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby are not included.

Scrooge was very proud of his family.

Sure, Gladstone coasted through on his luck alone and was... for lack of a better phrase, a free-loader who had life handed to him on a golden platter, but he was still Scrooge’s nephew and a genuinely good person at heart, or so Scrooge liked to think. Scrooge hated seeing everyone taking advantage of his unnatural luck, so when Gladstone was no more than seven he vowed to himself to love the boy for who he was, rather than what he could do.

Scrooge was very proud of his family.

Della was naturally talented. Life didn’t hand her anything, but she certainly reached out and grabbed it, pulling it to herself with little resistance, and she was amazing at nearly everything she did. Grateful for everything she got and generous to all around her, she was well loved and Scrooge just knew she’d make something of herself. With dreams of flying from a young age, Scrooge saw absolutely no issue in secretly dumping a few thousand into a fund for flight school- not that he’d ever tell her that. She prided herself in her independence and would never simply accept a free handout, no matter how Scrooge told it it  _wasn't_ a free handout; he knew she more than deserved it, after all.

Yes, Scrooge was _very_ proud of his family.

Donald had always been a sweet child- with a big smile and great optimism for the future- with a sorry temper that often reminded Scrooge of his own dear sister. With a love for his country and a greater love for the ocean, Donald had always dreamed of becoming a sailor- a navy sailor who would defend his country, for the sake of his father’s family who had lived there many generations, and his mother’s family who had just immigrated there. Scrooge was more than happy to take him to boating classes from a young age when his parents were too busy, and Scrooge saw the young duck’s sheer determination up close and personal. It was inspiring; such an unlucky duckling whose opportunities literally ran away from him, but he still never gave up.

Scrooge was very proud of his family, but Donald held a special place his in heart.

Where Gladstone was handed opportunities and Della grabbed them, Donald chased them down and bent them to his own will.

Scrooge saw a bright future ahead for all of them, but somehow Donald was the one he found himself drawn to the most.

Donald worked the hardest out of them all, reminding Scrooge a lot of himself. It seemed, however, only Scrooge and Della saw his potential, so rather than going to his parents the first adult Donald ever went to for any reason had always been Scrooge... and Scrooge had helped in any way he could.

When people around him tried to convince him being a sailor wasn’t a worthy cause, Scrooge had been the one to tell him it most certainly _was,_ and he should take pride in wanting to defend his country unlike many of the people they lived around.

When Donald became self conscious of his speech impediment and his inability to communicate with his classmates, Scrooge immediately took him to speech therapy. It didn’t completely erase the impediment- it never does, Scrooge knew- but it helped a little and, more importantly to Scrooge, it gave his nephew the confidence he needed to speak. As time went on, Scrooge noticed Donald using less and less sign language and more and more words.*

When people told the duckling that he couldn’t be a sailor- too small, too weak, too easily frightened, too hard to understand- Scrooge had been the one to assure him that he could be anything he wanted to be. Being brave did not mean being fearless, he had told Donald; being brave is facing what you fear. How can one be brave, after all, if they never experienced fear? No, Donald would make a fine sailor, he knew. Donald was one of the bravest ducklings he’d ever seen, never giving up even when everyone around him tells him it’s a lost cause. He had the determination and heart that most people lacked.

Donald’s parents loved him, but Scrooge sometimes felt like he was the only adult who saw Donald’s future as being bright. And, he noticed over time, it was starting to affect his nephew.

The sweet smile he so loved showed up less and less, and he began to resent those around him. He pushed people away. He began internalizing everything. By the time he was thirteen he was a depressed mess of broken will and shattered dreams- and Scrooge would not stand for it.

Donald believed he could do nothing right. Scrooge believed he could do anything he put his mind to.

Days after Donald and Della’s thirteenth birthday, shortly after school let out for the summer, Scrooge approached them to ask about them going on their first adventure with him, now that they were “old enough.” Della, being Della, had immediately said yes, but Donald had taken some convincing.

Their parents were a little harder to convince than Donald was, but with some well-worded promises and a brief description of the adventure- though he would admit later to Donald and Della he left several things out- they agreed.

Hortense made it clear if either of her ducklings were missing even a single feather, Scrooge would be a dead duck.

The first adventure, however, was a raging success, and Scrooge was happy to see Donald come alive again. And on their way home, while Della slept and Donald looked up at the stars, he took a seat next to his nephew and simply said;

_“I told ye, didn’t I? Ye can be anything ye want tae be. Ye just cannae give up, lad.”_

Donald had given him a smile before hugging him, like he used to do before, and said;

_“Thanks, Uncle Scrooge.”_

After that, Donald was right there on every adventure, proving every time that he was just as capable as anyone else- and moreso than most. And when he enlisted, Scrooge could only look over at his sister and brother-in-law with the smuggest smile he could muster as Donald and Della both donned their new uniforms, each excited for their new adventures- their first solo adventures.

Scrooge had hugged them both, and when he went to see Donald off for his first tour he made sure to tell the duck how proud he was of the man he had become. Donald had simply smiled and hugged him, yet again, and thanked him for always believing in him.

_“I’m looking forward to our next adventure when I get home!”_

Scrooge had laughed and simply agreed, hugging his nephew tightly.

Oh how he missed him while he was gone, and how he missed Della too. However, he took comfort in the rest of his family while he awaited their return, and he was already planning the first adventure they would have when Donald came home.

When Hortense and Quackmore both passed away suddenly soon after Donald shipped out, and Gladstone just stopped coming around or answering his calls, Scrooge found himself feelingly lonely and looking forward to every letter sent to him. It was less lonely when Della returned and Gladstone finally reestablished contact, but he still found himself dearly missing the sailor.

Pride, however- his own pride, and his pride in Donald- kept him from saying so, not wanting Donald to feel pressured into coming home before he was ready, no matter how much Scrooge wanted to ask him to just come home already.

Time went on and Scrooge waited with Della and Gladstone, anticipating every letter and description of Donald's newest adventure. Every letter from Donald, however, changed. Got more and more... less Donald. It was a steady transition, as he sent a letter every week- so steady Scrooge and Della wouldn't have noticed it if Gladstone, after being gone for a few months on his own "adventure," hadn't refused to believe the person writing the letter was Donald. Confused, Scrooge and Della asked what he meant, so Gladstone searched through the letter stash for the last one he had been there to read, and when Scrooge and Della compared the two letters they understood.

They didn't know how they hadn't noticed.

When Donald finally discharged from a four-year tour and returned home to Scrooge, Della and Gladstone he was a different duck. Scrooge didn’t know how to describe it- panic attacks and flashbacks, withdrawing, not smiling as much, refusing to talk about what happened... Della suspected PTSD** but could never get Donald to go to someone to be diagnosed. Gladstone couldn't stand how his cousin had changed and so distanced himself again, no matter how many times Della and Scrooge tried to explain it wasn't Donald's fault and that he couldn't help it.

Scrooge didn’t want to know what Donald had been through to affect him like this. Instead, they continued adventuring, and though Donald’s temper was worse, and he would have tantrums more often than he ever used to, and he panicked easily and said strange things Scrooge didn’t understand and were wholly unrelated to what was happening, and the smallest things would give him a split moment feeling of "we're gonna die"... Scrooge still couldn’t imagine having anyone else there with him and Della.

Donald had changed, but he was still Donald and Scrooge loved him just the same as he did before he left.

He was proud of Donald but at the same time he wished he had simply asked Donald to come home. He knew Donald would have found some way to get out, to come home, if Scrooge of all people asked him to.

_And maybe Donald wouldn’t be suffering now._

**Author's Note:**

> I know Della was probably the “favourite” of the nieces and nephews in canon (I have a feeling she’s going to be built up to rather... sue status) but since Donald is my favourite and, you know, actually the center of the Ducks universe, I made him the favourite. 
> 
> So yeah. Donald and Scrooge being so close just makes their falling out over Della's disappearance/death later much sadder, but what's a good story without some heartwrenching?
> 
> *I like to think that Donald's speech was much more garbled and harder to understand when he was a child (since no one else speaks the way he does, I imagine it's caused by a speech impediment) and his parents had him (and the rest of the family) learn sign language so it was easier to communicate. However, just being tossed into sign language classes made Donald feel like he was an invalid, and it made him want to speak less. When he finally went to Scrooge, the adult he trusts most to actually help him, about it, Scrooge immediately set up a speech class to both help him be more understandable, but also help boost his confidence and let him know that there is absolutely no shame in being different. (Honestly, Scrooge probably very specifically found someone who would help him both ways, rather than trying to "fix" him because to Scrooge there was nothing wrong with Donald at all)
> 
> **If you don't know, in the comics it is canon that Donald has PTSD. I dunno if it is in DuckTales 2017, but it's such a big part of his character in the comics that I can't imagine him without it. I believe that's why, spoiler alert, in the Lucky Gander episode, that's why he reacted the way he did when he thought the plane was crashing; "We're all gonna die, I've wasted my life." I don't think he was talking about spending his life raising the triplets, I think he had a very sudden and brief flashback to his days in the military.


End file.
